Acknowledge that different levels of creativity exist and offer relevant online experiences to facilitate people’s expressions of creativity at all levels. This means leading, guiding, and providing scaffolds as well as clean slates to encourage people at all levels of creativity. But this is a tall order. For starters, you may want to identify your “makers” and design scaffolds to support their creative expression. If you do this right, the makers may even want to help you guide the “adaptors” and lead the “doers”.

Recognize or reward people for their co-creative efforts, but keep in mind that intrinsic motivation beats extrinsic motivation.

Don’t try to design experiences for people. You can’t. Do provide scaffolds for them to use in creating their own experiences. (more…)

All of the above and more. I’d like to add one more idea: co-creators should also be offered scaffolds to support their creative exploration.

In my research I have observed four levels of creativity that can be seen in people’s lives. I call them: doing, adapting, making and creating. These four levels vary in terms of the amount of expertise and interest needed. Starting at the lowest level of creativity (with minimal expertise and interest) and moving toward higher levels (with increasing expertise and interest/passion) these levels include:

Doing, the lowest level, is motivated by productivity. It is about getting something done. For example, some people say they feel creative when cleaning and organizing closets.

Adapting is motivated by the need people have to make things their own. Adapting happens when people change something to make it meet their needs or to better fit their personality.

Making is motivated by people’s needs to make things with their own hands. Making involves the use of a pattern, recipe or kit. Making can be supported and encouraged by providing scaffolds upon which people can express their creativity.

Creating, the highest level, is motivated by people’s needs to express themselves in creative ways. Creating is like making but without a pattern, recipe or kit.

People live simultaneously at all levels of creativity. For example, they may be creating when it comes to cooking but adapting when it comes to the use of technology products. (more…)

I would say that the attitude and mindset of the people in the company are the biggest challenges. To embrace co-creativity requires that one believes that all people are creative. If those in the company do not believe this, then co-creation will not happen.

The existing power structures in most companies today are built on hierarchy and control. Co-creative thinking threatens the existing power structures. It is very difficult for those who have been successful while being in control to give it up now. The new generation will have an easier time.

(Copenhagen Co’creation asked Liz Sanders to comment on three co-creation challenges. Read the interview with Liz Sanders ‘The right tools for the job’)

To introduce the work of the Copenhagen Co’creation Network, Danish Design Association invited Ida Vesterdal, Partner at Via Design, to participate in Copenhagen Co’creation Summit and Seminar and to introduce co-creation in a number of articles. In the article “The right tools for the job” Liz Sanders, MakeTools.

The success or otherwise of co-creation depends to a large extent on whether we are able to utilize the knowledge and experience of participants and apply them to meet a specific challenge. To this end we can use a broad range of tools that aim to encourage individuals to contribute by drawing on their own experiences, both rational and emotional.

To learn more about what tools can be used and how they can be made to work, I have interviewed Liz Sanders, one of the participants at Copenhagen Co´creation. She is an expert in the use of tools that help people express their feelings, experiences and knowledge with a view to innovative development in a community setting. She develops and runs co-creation processes through her consultancy company, MakeTools, as well as doing concurrent research on the tools she works with.

NECESSARY PRECONDITIONS
To start with, Liz stresses that tools are only the tip of the iceberg. There are other, deeper levels which are necessary preconditions if the tools are to work at all. As Liz herself explains – on the basis of the model, ‘Exploring co-creation on a large scale’:

“For tools to be effective, you will need several other layers. ‘Tools’ is only the first step in the co-creation process. Tools need to be applied via methods which are often nested within more inclusive methodologies. The mindset with which the tools are applied is even more important than the methods or methodologies. In co-creation, you need to be working with the mindset that all people are creative and that they are able to produce creative things when given the tools and the stage on which to practice or perform. For example, I have seen good tools/methods fail in the hands of a person who did not actually believe that the people he gave the tools to would be creative with them. Then, in order for an organization to practice a culture of co-creation, the tools need to be applied via methods/methodologies and with the right mindset by people within the organization working together.” (more…)